Pasta, Cheese and Veggies

Today was a fun filled day in the kitchen for me. There are a few recipes that I have been wanting to try that lend themselves to weekend cooking. Before getting started Russ and I went to the grocery store where we stocked up on lots of dairy products. Russ thinks I am concerned on his calcium intake after seeing what we bought.

The first is a CL recipe from a couple years ago for homemade ricotta cheese. This was super easy and very fun to make. The ricotta turned out really well and had great flavor! All you do is put a gallon of 2% milk and 5 cups of buttermilk in a large pot with a thermometer. You stir it occasionally and watch the temperature. When it reaches 170F you stop stirring and when it reaches 190F you take it off the heat. You then use a slotted spoon to carefully remove all the curds. I discarded the leftover whey, but you could keep it and incorporate it in other recipes (I have heard of using it when baking breads). The curds then drain in cheesecloth and then are lightly salted and fluffed with a fork. While store bought ricotta has good flavor this was hands down much tastier! I definitely think this will be a repeater only next time I'll either half the recipe or make it when Jess is in town to split with her.

The next recipe we tried was for ratatouille. I mentioned in an earlier post that Jess and Scott gave us some wonderful veggies that they didn't have time to use before leaving for Boston, but I didn't mention that she also lent me her Moosewood cookbook with their favorite ratatouille recipe in it. It was easy to prepare and very yummy! While Russ is not a huge fan of eggplant or zucchini he did like it. This will also be repeated. It could easily be a meal in itself if served over rice, but we ended up using it a different way tonight and plan to use it as a side for tomorrow night.

Our last cooking adventure today was a team effort. This is Russ and my second attempt at making homemade pasta. Both times we have tried making homemade ravioli. Tonight's turned out okay, but not great. I have a feeling we are overworking the dough as the pasta when finished is a little tough and thicker than I would like. Jane has offered to come over to help us learn how to make pasta and I think we definitely need to take her up on the offer. We stuffed some of the pasta with ricotta, some with the ratatouille (which we pureed first), and some with sausage. The pasta stuffed with the ratatouille had an excellent flavor, but it was a little soft when purred for a filling. The ricotta worked really well. We will definitely try making homemade pasta again, but hopefully we'll find some time for a tutorial before then! All in all it was a fun day in the kitchen with some yummy results!

Ratatouille ("Moosewood Cookbook" by Mollie Katzen)

4 - 6 servings, 35 - 40 minutes to prepare and simmer

1 medium onion (fist-size), chopped
2 medium bell peppers, in strips or cubes
2 small or 1 medium zucchini, cubed (or summer squash or a combination)
1 small eggplant, cubed
4 cloves crushed garlic
2 medium tomatoes, in chunks
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. each: basil, marjorm
1/2 tsp oregano
dash of ground rosemary
3 Tbs. burgundy (or dry, red wine of your choice)
1/2 cup of tomato juice
2 Tbs. tomato paste
2 tsp. salt (approximately)
black pepper to taste
1/4 cup of olive oil (I used less)
freshly-chopped parsley

Heat olive oil in large, heavy cooking pot. Crush the garlic into the oil. Add bay leaf and onion; salt lightly. Saute over medium heat until onion begins to turn transparent. Add eggplant, wine and tomato juice. Add herbs. Stir to mix well, then cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper, tomatoes and tomato paste. Mix well. Continue to stew until all vegetables are tender. (How tender is tender? Do a taste test and decide what seems right to you.)

Just before serving, mix in the fresh parsley.

Serve on a bed of rice, or in a bowl, accompanied by some good french bread. Top with grated cheese and chopped black olives.